Sausage,

I have so many near miss stories it's not even funny. I moved in 88', got a cut my first night in town. It took a year to come together, and in that time I was approached by everybody you could imagine. Major publishers, record producer, label people. Doug Grau of Warner Brothers came to a show and said "Man, If I had only seen you earlier. Three weeks ago I was in Marietta Ga. and signed a guy just like you. His name is Travis Tritt."

That was me. Always nearly there. but never could grab that brass ring. And it often was not my fault. A lawyer demands more money from a publishing company laying off all their writers, throwing the contract back in the face of the president of the company. While I was OUT of town.

Getting cuts but no singles. Getting the single but the artist quits his record deal. Getting a cut but doesn't make the CD. Getting the single, doing the video, but the president of the record company DIES before it is released.

Yeah, you get bitter. And like that guy you mentioned, you wonder what you have done wrong. Especially when your co-writers, musicians in your back up band, back up singers, all seem to shoot to the top then have all the hits, money and whatever you always wanted. That is the business.

And you have to be prepared for it. The dues paying comes in a lot of ways. For this discussion I am talking more of demos but they are all interelated. People expect you to play on the playing field they do and while some people, Susan Boyle, Carrie Underwood, and even Steel Magnolia, some clients of mine that have shot to the top of the charts, might not seem to have "paid their dues", but actually they did. I remember them night after night working Karaoke nights to make money. Actually, they were working one night when a guy came in and SHOT the Karaoke host dead in front of them. So a lot of people pay dues we don't see.

The real point is that we have to understand all the angles and have to think very hard on everything we do, every move we make, every person we meet. There is always someone there to separate us with our money, and demos can be a big way of doing it. Mostly, just talk to people who have done all of that before you.

Ray, that is another thing that has become huge. The "Antique Road show" pawn shop, all those "Treasures in your attic" are all over the place. Which of course makes people think that the lamp they have had that their grandmother gave them are one of a kind classics. Unfortunately, most of the time it turns out to be just another crappy old lamp covered with green shag carpet.

But such is life. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

MAB